ColinBarber

I didn't think parking sensor were ever fitted as standard, or available as a factory fit option. They were probably available as an accessory from Lexus dealers, either fitted at purchase or retro fit, but they could also be third party. The SC doesn't have a brake pad wear indicator so if the warning lamp was related then it was probably an ABS sensor issue.

Welcome :) Typically under general settings there is an option for auto screen change. If this is set to on then when you select audio or climate screens, after 20 seconds of no use the screen will revert back to the previous screen, for example the map view or trip information.

congrats :)

The current gen GS is a massive improvement over the previous generation but the non 450h F Sport doesn't handle as well as the current gen IS F Sport. Its a very different car though, more relaxed.

I've had 10 Toyota/Lexus vehicles, the only alloy wheels that didn't start to corrode were GS sport wheels (made by OZ in Italy and had much better clear coat compared to Toyota supplied wheels) and my current IS F Sport wheels which are probably too new to suffer yet. If you are very careful then you can keep them from corroding but you shouldn't have to go to extremes.

Indeed. There is almost £10k difference between the list price of the 300h and 450h F Sports, difficult to justify spending so much additional money. GS300 is very nice though, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Alldata will use the US service schedule which can be very different to the UK. You should always consult the owners manual or Lexus' revised guidance on their UK website.

The GS450h handles really well, shame you couldn't stretch to that :(

1 - do you mean when cold? That is normal. If the engine it hot then it won't necessarily start, that would depend on the hybrid battery charge. 2 - you may see one bar drop, there will always be a bit of self-discharge to the batteries. No the hybrid battery isn't powering the vehicle when it is switched off, that is the job of the 12v aux battery. You should never get a flat hybrid battery unless leaving the vehicle for 6+ months. After a few weeks the aux battery could be flat.

Nav changed the previous year, kept the same for the major facelift at the end of 2005: Sept 2004 - Revised shocks, new Sat Nav with voice recognition, Electronic Traffic Avoidance, hands free Bluetooth. Dec 2005 - New 6 speed transmission with sequential manual mode - the extra ratio improved economy, acceleration and reduced emissions. Adaptive front lighting system (AFS), LED rear lights, new alloy wheels, new front end (grille, headlights, bumper, indicators and fog lights).

The colour code should be on the VIN plate. It is a three character code, probably 4xx (orange/brown) or 5xx (yellow).

are you regarding to the centre screen? I may be wrong but I don't believe it is possible without swapping out the unit.

Is the drive belt tight, the pulley could be slipping? Are the fans running when the AC is on? Is the condenser restricted in any way from your transmission cooler?

Personally I'd only recommend a facelift model with the 6 speed transmission.

Yes, vehicles ordered from Nov 2003 onwards.

It would be minor. It alternates between minor and major every 10k miles, starting with a minor at 10k. As part of the initial vehicle warranty you are allowed up to 2,000 miles leeway so services don't tend to fall neatly on those nice round numbers after a few years as owners stretch it out slightly each time and there is always the potential for a vehicle not to have done many miles for a year or two which then means it gets services at 12 months regardless of mileage which completely changes when you think a service is needed.

I'd walk away. It isn't the colour you want, it has more miles than you want and you have doubts about the dealership. Check with your local Lexus dealer about a Lexus extended warranty. Provided you have FLSH you should be able to purchase a 2 year warranty, even if you obtain a vehicle privately. They may not charge you for an inspection, or they may insist on a service. For what it's worth I don't think the salesman is covering something up. If it was a family run secondhand trader/dealer then maybe but if the Lexus franchise dealership puts a vehicle up for sale then the salesmen wouldn't be accountable for anything wrong with the vehicle, they should just be targeted on selling. I suspect he was either a poor salesman, thought his time was being wasted, or he is too busy selling more expensive vehicles along with finance packages which earn him more commission.

Service intervals always vary between the UK and US. In the US you have many people doing oil changes every 3k to 5k miles, something we just don't do here as the price of oil is more expensive and the car industry has been guided by the fleet purchasers who want longer and longer intervals. Toyota/Lexus timing belts intervals used to be 60k/63k in the UK and around 90k in the US, now UK vehicles are typically 100k - same engine, same belt. Intervals are based on what is actually required, the environment/climate, the usage pattern (UK/European Lexus vehicles tend to have additional things such as transmission coolers because of expected higher driving speeds), what is acceptable in that country from the owner, and the competition. Basically you should ignore US service schedules for a UK vehicle.

A vehicle of that age would have 10k service intervals, therefore the timing belt would be due at either 100k miles or 10 years, whichever is sooner. If a service is due within 3 months or 3,000 miles I'd expect them to do it as part of the sale, otherwise they wouldn't. Do you know when it was last serviced? We could make an assumption that it was done at 80k miles and therefore one is due soon but things often aren't that clear cut.

I wouldn't read too much into that. The SC isn't that popular and secondhand vehicles with V8s in them don't sell quickly. You will see LS and GS vehicles sitting with a Lexus dealer for 6+ months before being sold, nothing wrong with them. This is one reason why you get such poor trade-in prices from Lexus dealers, they factor in the vehicle hanging around for a long time, depreciating in value month on month - they have to reduce the price to maintain a fair market value.

There are a couple of fuses that power the amplifier (Radio 1 and Radio 2). Worth double checking those fuses are ok, I believe one is in the engine bay fuse box and the other in the drivers footwell.

There should be no charge, and it doesn't take the dealership more than 10 minutes to do, and they can get on with something else whilst it is updating. If they insist on charging then just complain that the current system doesn't work well - that way they should be able to fix the issue under warranty.

I'll listen out, I'm only 150 miles away from Devon so I should be able to hear you :)

No it is everything and the full reboot hasn't fixed it :( May have to do a complete factory reset on it. It really is a poor system.

difficult to say without seeing. Fitting a large disc is normally the challenge, a smaller one should be fine however you need to make sure the pads don't extend past the disc if a larger calliper has also been fitted.